1996 USISL Premier League season
Please note: page under construction
The 1996 USISL Premier League season was its 2nd. The season began in April 1996 and ended in August 1996.
Central Coast Roadrunners won the championship, defeating the San Francisco Bay Seals 3-2. Spokane Shadow won the regular season title, winning 14 games to 2 losses.
Changes from 1995 Season
Name changes
New teams
11 teams were added for the season.
| Team |
Area |
Location |
Previous affiliation |
| Bellingham Orcas |
Northwest Washington area |
Bellingham, WA |
expansion |
| Central Coast Roadrunners |
Central West Coast area |
San Luis Obispo, CA |
expansion |
| Florida Strikers |
Greater Miami area |
Fort Lauderdale, FL |
from USISL Pro |
| Miami Tango |
Greater Miami area |
Miami, FL |
expansion |
| Mid-Michigan Bucks |
Flint/Tri-Cities area |
Saginaw, MI |
expansion |
| Omaha Flames |
Omaha-Council Bluffs area |
Omaha, NE |
expansion |
| San Diego Top Guns |
San Diego area |
San Diego, CA |
from USISL Pro |
| Southern California Gunners |
Inland Empire area |
San Bernardino, CA |
expansion |
| Spokane Shadow |
Spokane area |
Spokane, WA |
expansion |
| West Florida Fury |
Emerald Coast area |
Pensacola, FL |
expansion |
| Willamette Valley Firebirds |
Corvallis area |
Corvallis, OR |
former Portland Firebirds of the USISL Pro League |
Teams Leaving
5 teams folded after the 1995 season:
Standings
under construction
Blue denotes team has won their division.
Green denotes team has won playoff spot.
Orange denotes team gets bye into semifinals as defending champion.
Central Conference
Northern Division
* Detroit, Kalamazoo, Lexington, and Michigan were all penalized 3 points.
** Grand Rapids did not have a home stadium this year, and played only road games.
Southern Division
* Sioux City was penalized 6 points.
NOTE: Game between Sioux City and Wichita was postponed and could not be resecheduled before end of the season. Game was cancelled because it had no effect on playoffs.
Eastern Conference
Northern Division
* Nahsville was penalized 6 points. Jackson was penalized 3 points.
Southern Division
| Place |
Team |
P |
W |
L |
SW |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Points |
| 1 |
Cocoa Expos* |
14 |
10 |
4 |
1 |
45 |
22 |
+23 |
28 |
| 2 |
Orlando Lions* |
14 |
9 |
5 |
1 |
25 |
28 |
-3 |
25 |
| 3 |
Florida Strikers* |
14 |
7 |
7 |
1 |
31 |
33 |
-2 |
19 |
| 4 |
West Florida Fury |
14 |
5 |
9 |
0 |
29 |
36 |
-7 |
15 |
| 5 |
Miami Breakers |
14 |
4 |
10 |
0 |
29 |
37 |
-8 |
12 |
| 6 |
South Florida Future |
14 |
0 |
14 |
0 |
17 |
63 |
-46 |
0 |
* Cocoa, Florida, and Orlando were all penalized 3 points.
Western Conference
Northern Division
* Colorado Springs and Spokane were both penalized 3 points.
Southern Division
* Central Coast and San Diego were both penalaized 3 points
Playoffs
Format
Central Coast received a bye to the PDL Semifinals as the defending champion.
The top four teams from every division except the Southwest earn playoff spots. With Central Coast already receiving a bye, the top two teams from the Southwest Division will play each other, however if Central Coast is in the top two, then the third place team receives a playoff spot. The Division winners would then face each other in the Conference finals.
Divisional Brackets
PDL Finals Brackets
[1]
References